After a period of silence in the great hall, First Sir finally spoke. "The key is still whether the cultivators below can break through the Devil's Cliff Crevice. At that time, my martial brothers and I will also honor our promise to the Demon Emperor. I alone can deal with Daling and one other Spirit Transformation cultivator. The remaining one can be dealt with by the three of you together. This way, even if a fifth-rank demonic beast truly appears on their side, there is still hope."
Hearing First Sir's words, a smile appeared on Tu Tai's face, but he was not entirely satisfied in his heart.
He knew that with this First Sir's strength, he could probably hold off all three of the enemy's Spirit Transformation cultivators by himself for a short while. Then, his side could free up their hands and easily take the Devil's Cliff Crevice. But for the other party to offer to fight one against two was also a fulfillment of their promise.
"In that case, aside from the possible unexpected appearance of a fifth-rank demonic beast, the entire breakthrough now rests on the cultivators below. Whether it's Nascent Soul or Golden Core, as long as someone can charge into the Devil's Cliff Crevice with the 'Lesser Realm-Breaking Pearl' I brought and work with our Demon Clan army on the other side to destroy the formation seal, it is still possible to succeed."
Tu Tai agreed. A thousand words were spoken, but in the end, only a real battle could decide everything.
"Your Demon Clan has rested and recuperated for such a long time, yet you've only managed to refine a single pseudo 'Realm-Breaking Pearl'?"
First Sir nodded after hearing Tu Tai's words, but he was still puzzled about the matter of the so-called "Lesser Realm-Breaking Pearl."
Hearing First Sir's question, Tu Tai hesitated for a moment before answering.
"Sigh, you three sirs may not know, but my Demon Clan suffered a severe resource shortage millions of years ago due to refining several 'Realm-Breaking Pearls.' Many of the necessary raw materials can no longer be grown or obtained. Otherwise, we would have reopened the passage to the Desolate Moon Continent long ago. The Devil's Cliff Crevice is already damaged; we could have just thrown two 'Realm-Breaking Pearls' at it. Why go to such trouble and still have to search for a 'Realm-Breaking Pearl'?
"But our Demon Emperor never gave up on the plan to refine 'Realm-Breaking Pearls' and has been searching for refining materials all along. Unfortunately, in the end, we could only refine a 'Lesser Realm-Breaking Pearl' to assist in destroying the two-realm barrier."
After hearing this, First Sir thought it made sense. A magical treasure that could destroy a two-realm barrier was a heaven-defying item. Even in the vast Demon Realm, those rare materials had probably gone extinct.
In truth, there was another important reason that Tu Tai did not mention, because it was a matter of shame for the Demon Clan. Many years ago, a cultivator of terrifying strength had infiltrated the Demon Realm. When he learned that the Demon Realm was still preparing to invade the various human continents, this person single-handedly snuck into the Demon Emperor's palace. Right under the Demon Emperor's nose, he stole the jade slip containing the refining method for the "Realm-Breaking Pearl."
The refining method for the "Realm-Breaking Pearl" was the Demon Clan's most precious secret. The top-tier Demon Clan expert who had created it had placed a restriction on the jade slip to prevent it from being copied. This top-tier Demon Clan expert's magic power had reached the legendary level of a Demon King. After he ascended and disappeared, not even the Demon Emperor could break the restriction on the jade slip, let alone copy it. At most, he could only read it.
Thus, when this exceptionally precious jade slip was stolen, it meant the Demon Clan could no longer refine a true "Realm-Breaking Pearl," and they would never be able to refine one again.
In the end, it was only through the Demon Emperor's painstaking efforts that some of the content of the "Realm-Breaking Pearl's" refining method could be restored and recorded. But its power was still far from satisfactory, and it could only be called a "Lesser Realm-Breaking Pearl."
Now that First Sir had brought up this matter, Tu Tai had not wanted to speak of it. But with First Sir's level of cultivation, it would be difficult to fool him with a simple excuse, so he explained it briefly.
As a high-ranking cultivator of the Demon Clan, Tu Tai naturally knew some of the inside story. He even knew that the cultivator who stole the precious jade slip was a human, and that this person had been audacious enough to leave his name behind.
The Demon Emperor, in his fury, not only personally searched everywhere but also sent out several of his avatars to all corners of the Demon Realm. Yet, even after searching the entire Demon Realm, they could not find this person. It was truly a shameful thing to speak of.
Tu Tai naturally did not want to dwell on this topic, so he immediately changed the subject.
"Another important piece of information we've obtained is that ever since a Demonic General led a sneak attack on the Devil's Cliff Crevice last time, the top experts of the Desolate Moon Continent have readjusted the access route to it.
"Now, among the three human defensive points we are facing, only one of them is the true path to the Devil's Cliff Crevice. They have set up a teleportation formation there that leads to the crevice, so we must find this defensive point as soon as possible.
"Recently, apart from the last probing attack, we have not launched any large-scale offensives. We are analyzing more intelligence. After all, the number of people we have here is limited, and we cannot launch attacks on all three points simultaneously. If we fail once, the enemy's top experts might adjust the route to the Devil's Cliff Crevice again.
"However, through the continuous intelligence gathered by our various scouts during this period, we have more or less figured out the enemy's troop distribution.
"Windy Cool Mountain has only about six thousand cultivators stationed there; Demon-Swallowing Ridge has about thirteen thousand; and Sword-Subduing Abyss also has about ten thousand cultivators. The rest are a large number of cultivators roaming outside who can support these three defensive points at any time.
"From the current look of things, the location of the teleportation formation that can access the Devil's Cliff Crevice... is most likely in Demon-Swallowing Ridge or Sword-Subduing Abyss..."
The four then lowered their voices. First Sir and Tu Tai discussed in the great hall for the time it takes an incense stick to burn before finally settling on a plan of attack.
With the discussion concluded, Tu Tai felt much more at ease. He cupped his hands toward the three.
"First Sir's analysis just now was very reasonable, every sentence a principle of warfare. Then everything shall proceed according to First Sir's will.
"There is still some intelligence being reported back. Once this information is gathered and verified against what we have just discussed, we will immediately launch the grand offensive. This matter should be completed within ten days. It is better to be early than late; we have already given the enemy plenty of time to maneuver.
"As for the matter First Sir entrusted to me, I will definitely send more scouts to inquire about it. Oh, that's right, regarding the matter of 'plucking' that Sixth Sir asked about, I don't know much either. It's said to be a five-party team battle, with one battlefield being some kind of plucking zone, and another seems to be something called the 'Wheel of Life and Death'..."
This time, before Tu Tai could finish his words, the bodies of First Sir and the other two elders all shuddered violently. They cried out in unison, "The Wheel of Life and Death?"
...
When Li Yan and the others returned to Windy Cool Mountain, Bai Rou naturally went to report on their mission.
After bidding farewell to Chu Weixiong, Sun Guoshu, and the others, Li Yan flew directly back to his temporary Cave Residence.
When he landed on the platform in front of his cave, he saw a white spirit talisman within the restrictive formation at the entrance, buzzing around like a headless fly.
It was a Voice Transmission Talisman. 'Who is looking for me?'
Every time Li Yan went out on a mission, the entire Ninth Squad of the Heavy Peak Battalion had to report to the Hall of Deacons. Upon their return, the casualties would be tallied. Therefore, anyone could find out that Li Yan and his team were out with a simple check, yet someone had still sent him a voice transmission.
Li Yan stretched out a finger and pointed. The restrictive formation immediately buzzed, and the Voice Transmission Talisman, which had been darting left and right like a spirit snake, shot towards Li Yan's face.
The next moment, it was caught in Li Yan's hand. After crushing the talisman, Wei Zhongran's voice immediately sounded in his mind.
"When you get back, come to my place immediately!" After this simple sentence, there was nothing more.
Li Yan didn't know why Wei Zhongran was looking for him, but he didn't need to think too much about it. He would find out when he got there. Without even entering his cave, he once again rose into the air.
Just as Li Yan landed in front of Wei Zhongran's cave on the mountainside, the mist before the entrance churned violently, revealing a path in advance. The stone gate of the cave was already wide open.
Wei Zhongran's gentle voice followed. "Come in!"
After stepping into the cave, Li Yan was surprised to find that Wei Zhongran was not alone. In another stone chair to his right sat an old man with white hair and a white beard.
This man had the air of an immortal and a youthful, ruddy complexion, truly like a celestial being from a painting. He was also wearing the dark green long robe of the Malevolent Spirit Sect.
Li Yan had never seen this person before. What surprised him even more was that another person was standing below with their hands respectfully at their sides. It was Bai Rou, from whom he had just parted ways a short while ago. She was here too.
Seeing Li Yan arrive, Bai Rou glanced at him and gave him a slightly awkward nod without speaking. This made Li Yan even more confused.
On his way here, Li Yan had many guesses. For example, Wei Zhongran might have summoned him to ask about his recent situation. A more likely possibility was that there was news of his senior brothers or sisters, or perhaps one of them had come. But the current situation was completely different from what he had imagined; he was completely clueless.
Li Yan took a step forward, stood not far from Bai Rou's side, and then bowed. "Greetings, Master and... Martial Uncle. For what matter has this disciple been summoned?"
Li Yan didn't know who the immortal-like elder was, but he could feel the powerful Golden Core aura from him, so he naturally bowed to him as well.
"He is that little disciple of yours? His cultivation is passable, I suppose. As for his looks? Really quite ordinary." Before Wei Zhongran could speak, the immortal-like elder spoke first.
His words, however, left Li Yan stunned.
'Who is this person? It's understandable to comment on my cultivation; after all, when elders meet juniors, the first thing they usually notice is the cultivation realm. But why mention my looks upon our first meeting?'
Although he knew this elder was a Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivator, he didn't know which peak he came from. The elder had one hand resting on the arm of the stone chair and the other flat on his lap, conveniently covering the emblem on his sleeve. Li Yan couldn't use his divine sense to scan him, so for a moment, he really didn't know who this person was.
But at the same time, Li Yan noticed that Bai Rou, beside him, had turned her face away the moment she heard those words, her face instantly tinged with pink.
"Haha, how many people can have good looks like you? Li Yan, come and pay your respects to Elder Chigong of the Four Symbols Peak."
Hearing Wei Zhongran say this, Li Yan finally learned the man's identity.
'This is Bai Rou's master!'
Li Yan had, of course, heard the name of Elder Chigong more than once, but this was the first time he had seen him in person. He was still puzzled as to why Elder Chigong would speak like that upon their first meeting.
But confusion was confusion. Li Yan still bowed respectfully again. "Disciple pays his respects to Martial Uncle Chigong!"
Elder Chigong waved his hand, signaling for Li Yan to rise.
After Li Yan straightened up, Wei Zhongran spoke again. "I have been busy with affairs recently and haven't had the chance to learn about your recent situation in detail. Bai Rou also just arrived, so I haven't had time to ask about your squad's situation. However, I heard some news from the Hall of Deacons a few days ago. The completion rate of the missions you have undertaken during this period is ranked among the top. Not bad, not bad at all!"
These words, to Li Yan's ears, sounded like a preface. He thought to himself, 'Could it be that something big is happening? And why have I been summoned?'